What a year 2015 was at the movies. There was such an embarrassment of riches even if you were able to see every major release there is almost no way to shrink your favorite list to 10. Looking back I have at least 15 if not 20 films that deserve to be on that list. And I didn’t even see everything, which could alter this list dramatically come February when I’m all caught up – (Need to see list includes: Room, Spotlight, Carol, Victoria and Anomalisa.) Still – it would be a shame not to at least comment on the year that was, hopefully adding to people’s rental que’s one recommendation at a time.
The shame of keeping this list at 10 is the simple fact that I’ve had to leave so many great films off. Very few films made me laugh as hard last year as Seth Rogen’s Christmas romper The Night Before or Melissa McCarthy’s hysterical take on the espionage genre Spy. Legacy directors Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg graced the screen with The Hateful Eight and Bridge of Spies – both displaying their unparalleled craft combined with their most obvious shortcomings. Even defending Best Director champ Alejandro González Iñárritu returned with The Revenant – a stunning work of visual mastery that is as frustrating as it is hypnotic. Oh…Star Wars came back too, you may have heard.
So without further posturing, here are my top ten films of 2015 – in no particular order…except for my favorite, which will be last.
I knew very little about this adaption of Colm Toibin’s novel going into the theater. What I found coming out was one of the most affecting films of the year led by an Oscar-worthy performance as Irish immigrant Eilis by Saoirse Ronan. Her slow integration into the culture of 50’s New York as well as her coming-of-age romance with Emory Cohen’s Tony was never rushed and never lacked conviction. This is classical filmmaking at its finest and Director John Crowley hit nary a false note.
Writer/Director Alex Garland’s first time behind the camera was the best directorial debut of the year. Ex Machina’s insightful, haunting look at the not-too-distant future of artificial intelligence is unforgettable. Throw in great performances by Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac (who were both in every movie made last year) as two innovative scientists working to understand Isaac’s creation Ava (Alicia Vikander – having a breakout year.) Vikander steals the film – with the help of some nifty CGI – as an AI with an agenda while Garland imbues the film with a scary but not implausible vision of the future.
Ridley Scott is the hardest working man in Hollywood. At a young 78, Scott decided to head back to space with Matt Damon – as a stranded astronaut – in The Martian. This is Scott’s 13th movie since 2000’s Gladiator and it’s by far his best. Scott feels at home beyond the exosphere and he gives Matt Damon his juiciest role yet. Damon spends nearly the entire film alone and carries the story with the ease of Tom Hanks in Cast Away. The supporting ensemble combined with Scott’s gorgeous visuals made this one of the biggest crowd pleasers of 2015.
Pixar…made me cry AGAIN. Inside Out personifies four emotions in the head of Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) as her family picks up and moves from the Midwest to the bustling metropolis of San Francisco. Joy, Sadness, Fear & Anger attempt to navigate Riley’s fragile emotional state that comes with such a change and the pleasures that Directors Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen are endless. It’s not hyperbole to suggest this may be Pixar’s most accomplished, complex film yet and it’s a ride I cannot wait to take again. Inside Out is definitely a core memory of 2015.
Who knew there was more to mine from the Rocky-verse? Well apparently there’s a lot and this time Director Ryan Coogler has taken the reigns. Coogler not only reboots the series under the growing megastar of Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson (Apollo’s son) but he completely subverts the white male subtext that has dominated the series. Here Sly Stallone is the grizzled veteran, being pulled out of retirement to help the young upstart rise above his Father’s shadow. And when Adonis runs down the street in slow motion with a motorcycle gang around him as Lord Knows by Meek Mill burns down the speakers I DARE YOU not to fly out of your chair. Boxing may be a tired genre but Creed proves there’s still power.
Asif Kapadia is one of the best documentarian’s working today and his mournful work Amy stood tall last year. Amy Winehouse is one of my favorite artists of all time but Kapadia never looks at her rise to fame through rose colored glasses. To the contrary he looks at the high price she paid as paparazzi invaded her every move and she dove deeper into herself and her vices. What haunts the film is Winehouse’s ethereal voice, a sound that opened the door for the powerhouse that is Adele. For me, very few vocalists come close to her talent and I’m glad Kapadia gave us a glimpse into the reasons for it.
Call me a sucker for Judd Apatow if you want but I flat out loved Amy Schumer’s first trip to the silver screen. I find Schumer’s voice interesting, singular and unique. To see some of her best standup concepts come to life was hysterical. The fact that Apatow took that perspective and helped frame it in a traditional rom-com made it consumable. And while Schumer does indulge in some of the worst tropes of the genre she also flips it – giving herself the role of the philandering dude that we’ve seen Matthew McConaughey play so many times. Throw in a star turn by Bill Hader and a totally affable LeBron James – who steals nearly every scene he’s in – and you have the funniest film of 2015.
Adam McKay’s ensemble-takedown of the cronyism that led to the housing crash of 2008 was the most informative adrenaline rush I saw all year. His film never panders to the audience instead choosing to speak to us like adults who can consume this information with furious anger. It’s also hilarious – leaning on the comic chops of Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt and many more to deliver this true story with a completely sardonic bent. The Big Short is a sad, angry film that doesn’t offer easy answers but further exposes the atrocities that the big banks perpetrated on the world economy.
No thriller in the last 15-years has accomplished the level of grim terror that Sicario captures in its first 15-minutes. Director Dennis Villeneuve uses the war on drugs on the El Paso-Juarez border to create an atmosphere that I’ve yet to shake 5-months after seeing it. Leveraging beautiful cinematography and taught performances from Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro (who deserves Oscar consideration) Villeneuve paints this unending conflict with harsh, grey overtones. There are no easy answers south of the border and Sicario posits the ones north of it should be directly in the crosshairs.
My Favorite Movie of the Year – Mad Max: Fury Road
No movie I saw after early May brought me more joy than Mad Max: Fury Road. Here was a movie by a Director returning to his filmmaking roots that followed little in the way of convention. Somehow Hollywood had bankrolled this guzzeline-fueled desert rampage and lived to tell about it. How did this movie even happen? Oh who cares, it exists and that’s all that matters. What Director George Miller created was the densest, semi-feminist, flame-throwing, guitar-gimp shredding cinematic rides ever – something that demanded attention on the big screen. It encompassed why movies are fun and why we congregate in a dark room to enjoy them together. No other medium could create the sensation of Furiosa and Max on Fury Road and that’s why it’s not just a movie to admire but to celebrate.
